Ask HN: Which books/blogs on PR would you recommend?

3 points by justliving 14 years ago | 4 comments

I am currently trying to teach myself about the basics of "public relations". Could you recommend any good books to start with? What about good blogs on PR?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

michaelpinto 14 years ago |

Eons ago i was listening to a Jason Calacanis podcast and he gave an amazing insight: You should always do your own PR. At first I thought this was unfair as Jason is a genius at self promotion which is a gift few geeks have, but then he spelled out his technique which I actually wrote down:

1. Make friends in the press BEFORE you pitch

2. Is your story better than anything on techmeme?

3. ...then look for writers in your space

4. Leave a smart comment on a story (i.e. linkbait)

5. Do a blog to linkbait (take your comment and blow it up to a post) this is because journalists obsess over the comments

6. ...do the same with twitter

7. Learn from cluetrain manefesto, it's about a conversation

8. Journalists hate PR people

9. Obsess about your market, know EVERYTHING about your space with anything less is more (don't do a long press release), use a casual tone and just write 5 words (i.e. a ping mail)

justliving 14 years ago | |

thanks a lot, very insightful. Had actually never heard about Jason Calacanis. Will check out his podcast and his blog, looks quite interesting :-) !

Would you remember any other blog/book/recommendation you read at the time ... ?

michaelpinto 14 years ago | | |

Here are my quick thoughts:

- Do a search on each big blog for "why I hate PR people" and learn from those mistakes (there is an infamous one on TechCrunch from Arrington)

- If you want to learn the basics just get a book like "PR for Dummies" to learn the 101

- In my own experience with PR you need to care about results: If that's the case unless you are willing to invest the time and have the skills there is actual value to hiring a PR pro. If you look at Apple back in the day Regis McKenna really helped to put them on the map (http://www.regis.com). When you hire a good PR person what they bring to the table is a good rolodex, not the ability to pump out press releases and the like. The rolodex and the doors that open are what you're paying for IMHO.